This lot is closed. Bidding ended on 5/11/2001.
Baseball is America's Pastime, and there is no more apropos place for the signature of an American President than on a tight, shiny horsehide. These two slightly toned balls were signed by the 37th and 40th Presidents, both of whom were big sports fans. Richard Nixon put his name in the sweet spot of a ONL Feeney ball in blue pen, with the signature rating an 8. Feeney served as league president from 1970-86, and Nixon may have signed while he was in office. Ronald Reagan left office on January 20, 1989, three months before A. Bartlett Giamatti became Commissioner of Major League Baseball. During Giamatti's short-lived, 154-day tenure, Reagan signed this clean ONL Giamatti ball on the sweet spot in dark blue pen. It is hard to imagine any signature of the "Gipper's" being as strong or as well-defined as this one, which has to be rated as close as possible to a perfect grade of 10.